Till We Meet Again
by SilverSnowflake9798
Summary: Shouto Todoroki has always tried to forget as much of his childhood as he could. How strange that the time he can never seem to forget is the time he spent only a few minutes at the park with a girl who liked to make sandcastles and gave him a wooden doll.


**I got mixed answers for the spelling, so I'm going with 'Shouto' for his name.**

 _Don't look at that Shouto. They are in a different world than you are._

 _Shouto, don't pay attention to them. You are above them._

 _Do not bother with the other children in your class. You can't waste your time when you are going to be a great hero._

 _I told you not to play with the kids. As my prodigy you need to focus on nothing but training._

That was all that Shouto had ever been told about the other children by his father. Which was why he was very confused at his sister's suggestion.

"Why don't you just go play in the sandbox with the other kids, okay? I'll only be a moment."

Shouto just stared back at her. His elder sister, Fuyumi, had brought him across town to get some shopping done. She'd told him that there was a dress at a specific store that she wanted, but in reality she had wanted to get Shouto out of the house. His burn marks had only recently healed and the scar had taken form. Fuyumi may have not known the whole story about what happened, but she knew there had been a lot of yelling and fighting between her father and Shouto since that evening. Shouto being homeschooled didn't help with the situation either. It had taken a lot of convincing on Fuyumi's part to get her dad to let her take Shouto out, convincing him that he needed new shoes and clothes. She still couldn't believe her father agreed.

The only problem started when they were walking past a school to the bus and she realized she'd forgotten to get him anything. Her father would not be happy if she had convinced him to bring Shouto for clothes then didn't get him any. Only problem was, Shouto hated clothing shopping. He hated shopping in general.

To be honest, lately it seemed like he hated everything…

The best compromise she could think of was leave him at a park while she rushed to a store and picked up a few things. _It should be fine,_ she thought to herself. _There are lots of kids around and Shouto knows how to take care of himself so he should be safe. I'll make sure to get either clothes around his size or to big so I can say he'll grow into them._ What she hadn't planned for was Shouto's perplexed, completely lost reaction. "…Play in the…sandbox?"

"Right," Fuyumi nodded. She wasn't sure which part was confusing him. "I'll be right back. This way you don't have to try on any clothes." Shouto seemed to understand that part, but the rest he looked so confused.

"…With the other kids?'

"Yes," Fuyumi repeated, slightly exasperated. "I'll be right back. You can handle that, right?" There was nothing Shouto didn't think he could handle, so he nodded obediently. "Great," She straightened up with a smile on her face. "Try and have some fun. I will only be a few minutes." Shouto nodded, but didn't move. All he did was watch as his older sister rushed away, running so she could get back as soon as possible. He continued to watch her until she hurried into a store that had clothes, then was lost behind the doors. And Shouto realized he had to carry out his mission.

Moving for the first time, he turned to face the playground. There was a jungle gym, a little court covered with various drawings in chalk and the promised sandbox. There were children running all around it, laughing and screaming in glee. Shouto understood enough about a regular school to know that they were probably in recess. Most of the children looked around his age, barely into grade school. There were a few older children but most of them were talking amongst themselves. Not in the sandbox where he was supposed to go.

It wasn't hard for him to get over to the sandbox. He had been taught obedience and rules well enough to know what to do. When he got there though he was utterly lost. There were only 7 children in the sandbox and most of them were in groups. Was he supposed to ask one of the other children to play with him? Was he supposed to play on his own? Even then, what was he supposed to play? The only games he had ever played had been with his mother, and they certainly had never been with sand. His mother hated anything dirty.

What was he supposed to do?

In the Sandbox he noticed the groups were children of four, two and one. The children playing in a group of four were actually throwing toys in a circle and trying to get them to spin. The group of two were two girls drawing pictures in the sand while giggling to each other about their own little stories. The last child however was alone. In battle, it was best to focus on the single enemy, correct?

Was making friends any different?

He focused on the child who sat alone. It was a young girl, probably around his age. She had one pink backpack to her one side and a set of shovels and pales to her other. Her dark hair was done up in a ponytail that was held up high and went down her back. She wore a pair of baby blue shorts and a yellow top, both of which were covered in sand as she rested on her knees to reach her creation. There were a pair of sandals he assumed belonged to her that had been tossed to the side for her to work. She was focused on what looked like a small castle made of sand. A very impressive one actually, for a girl her age. He didn't know much about children his age, but he knew most weren't put through the same kind of training he was.

Did they instead…train to build little homes made out of dirt?

As if she sensed she was being watched, the girl stopped patting down on the sand and turned to face him. Shouto noticed she had very, very big eyes as dark as her hair but not unfriendly. At first she frowned at him, confused by the newcomer she didn't recognize. Then slowly her frown turned into a bright smile. She waved happily at Shouto with a shovel in one hand. Shouto wasn't sure what else to do, so he waved back. That made her grin stretch even wider. Shouto had never seen anyone smile so big in his life. Maybe her quirk was the ability to stretch body parts?

As Shouto considered this the girl studied him in turn. He wasn't sure what she saw in him. He doubted she missed the odd hair, eyes and new scar that had caused a number of strangers to stare at him as he passed through the streets. She blinked, considering him for a moment. Then, to Shouto's surprise, she motioned for him to come over. It was Shouto's turn to blink in confusion. He looked around, making sure she wasn't calling to someone else, but her eyes were locked onto his. To be sure, he pointed at himself. She nodded earnestly and waved for him to come over once again. _Fuyumi did want me to play,_ Shouto reasoned with himself. Since he could see no other option he cautiously walked over to the girl's side.

When he reached her side she beamed up at him. "Hi! Do you not have anyone to play with?" The question was simple enough, so Shouto nodded. "Neither do I! The others don't like building stuff with since they like to play other games! You can help me!" She patted the ground next to her cheerfully. "Sit down! You can start on the gate." Shouto glanced down at the spot she had patted, then looked back up at her. She was smiling up at him expectantly, waiting for him to join her.

 _It couldn't hurt,_ Shouto decided. What was the worst thing the little girl could do? "Great!" The girl smiled eagerly when Shouto sat down. "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo, but you can call me Yaoyorozu since that's what everyone else calls me. What's your name?"

Shouto couldn't find anything wrong with telling her his name. "Todoroki. Shouto Todoroki."

"Nice to meet you Todoroki!" She nodded happily to him. "Here, you can have the green shovel." She placed a small shovel in his hands and he stared at it in confusion. What was he supposed to do? Dig a hole? "Don't bother trying to dig a hole," Yaoyorozu advised him with a stern look. "I've already done it. They say you can get to Canada, but really all you can get to is the bottom of the sandbox. There really isn't much there." Well of course they would reach the bottom of the sandbox. Why would anyone think anything else?

He turned towards the little castle she had made. It was fairly impressive, with a stable ground and two buildings in the back. She had started molding a castle to fit in the middle. However, he didn't recognize the type of castle. When she saw him looking she said, "It's a castle from Scotland, one that's far away. It doesn't look like the castles we make here, but it's easier to make with sand." Shouto wanted to know how she knew what a castle from Scotland looked like, but he was already confused with the shovel in his hand. She tilted her head at him. "What's wrong? Don't you know how to make a sandcastle?"

"…No."

The girl looked taken aback. "Oh. I thought everyone knew how." Shouto turned back to the castle, not sure if he was supposed to be embarrassed or not. Building a structure out of sand that would last only a few hours didn't seem like a necessary life skill. "Here, I'll teach you!" He watched as the girl took a pale and filled it to the top with sand. "First you need to fill the pale. Then you need to pat at the sand so it stays." She spent a lot of time pounding the dirt so it would stay in place. "It just rained yesterday, so it should all stay together. Then you put it upsidown," she turned the pale so the sand was on the ground then lifted the pale. "And then you have a small little castle!" Shouto stared at the small, insignificant little pile of sand that had formed a little pillar. Then stared at the girl who was beaming with pride over the small, insignificant pile of sand.

…he was starting to think that perhaps he was in danger.

At least he had enough sense to not say that out loud. "That's a lot of work for one pile." She deflated a bit when he didn't show the same enthusiasm, but nodded at his observation.

"Yeah. But it's the best way so that it all stays together." She ran a hand through the sand to demonstrate. "See? It all falls apart if I don't." Shouto thought that was ridiculous.

"Give me the pale." She frowned for a moment, then handed it over. He filled it up with sand as she had done, but instead of patting it down, he used his unburned side and froze the contents. When he tilted the pile over a frozen block of ice came out. "There. Now it stays together."

When he looked up he nearly jumped at the girl's shocked face. She was staring at him with wide eyes and her small, cute little mouth hanging open. At first Shouto felt panic build, not sure what he had done wrong. The panic died when her shock quickly turned to another large smile. "You have an ice quirk! That is so cool!"

Shouto flinched slightly. The reasoning behind his quirk very fresh, especially with his mother having been taken away recently. His father would have been furious for him not mentioning both his quirks, but Shouto did not correct her. "Yes. I do."

"That's cool," she repeated again in awe. After a second she made a little 'o' with her mouth. "I have a quirk too! Here, see!" she placed her tools to the side, Sandcastle forgotten. Holding out both arms she closed her eyes and concentrated. Shouto frowned and glanced down at her arms in confusion, expecting them to glow or something.

Instead he nearly jumped out of his skin when a small wooden doll came out with a pop.

"Yes! I did it right!" With a wide grin she picked up the small little doll and held it out for Shouto. It was a rounded doll with two colours and a small face on the top. "This is a Matryoshkas!" She explained to him with a smile. "It's a Russian doll. I've been practicing it for a while now!"

Shouto took the doll and examined it. He'd never seen a toy of that specific shape. Actually, he hadn't seen many toys himself. Placing it on one palm he tried to use his free hand to grip the top-

Only for the paint to wash off and all over his palm.

"Ah! It happened again!" The girl visibly deflated when she sighed at the sight on front of her. Shouto just watched with mild curiosity as the paint slipped off the wooden doll as if it was made of glass and down onto the sand. He barely registered the girl pulling a few napkins out of her hands for him to clean himself off as she continued talking. "It's supposed to all stay together, but I can't get the paint to stay on it." She looked a little sad for a moment when she stared at the wooden doll. Then to Shouto's surprise, she brightened. "But I'll get it! When I get really good, I'm going to use them as weapons and hide bombs in them!" SAY WHAT?

Before she could explain Shouto jumped to his feet and tossed the doll away. Momo gasped but Shouto had already rushed in front of her to protect her from a blast and closed his eyes, waiting for the explosion.

…There was no explosion.

He opened his eyes again when the girl tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, Todoroki-san? It doesn't have a bomb in it now." Shouto gave her a blank stare. To reassure him, she got to her feet and rushed over to pick up the doll he'd thrown away. He watched her with cautious eyes as she came back, doll in hand. Using both hands she twisted the doll till it popped open and showed him the insides. "See? Empty." He frowned, peering over to get a better look.

She waited as he got a better look, but then her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! I didn't notice!" His snapped his eyes up and saw she was staring at his face. Instinct told him to put on his poker face so that when questions about the scar came he wouldn't have to answer-

"You have Heterochromia eyes!" He blinked. The girl had brightened instantly, focusing on his eyes intently. "Wow, I've read about it in books, but I've never seen anyone with heterochromia!"

"…You know what heterochromia is?"

The girl nodded quickly. "Uh-huh!" Dropping the doll to the sand she rushed over to her back and shuffled around in it. Instead of pulling out a paper she yanked out a large book that made a large boom when she dropped it on the sand and made Shouto jump back in shock. Without paying attention to his shock she started flipping through the pages with a smile on her face. "Papa let me read his hospital books, but he says I'm too young for the really big ones, so he gave me little ones. This one talks about interesting stuff, like heterochromia!" She continued talking about her books while Shouto stared at her. Of course he knew what it was, but that was only because he had it. His father had never focused on written education as much as the girl in front of him was.

Perhaps his father really was SLACKING on his studies.

"And sectoral Heterochromia means part of one iris is a different colour! Isn't that cool?" She beamed up at him happily, oblivious to his stare. Shouto didn't really find it cool. And he didn't see any point to telling her so. Instead he told her what was on his mind.

"You're weird."

"Eh?" Shouto was saved having to deal with what looked like a broken heart when they noticed a group of three girls walk over. One girl had bright blue hair in long curls that went down her back. Another had dark skin and wore a white dress. The third was almost a head taller than the others and wore jeans with holes in them. They were all focused on Shouto, curiosity in their eyes.

"We wanted to come meet the new kid!" the blue haired girl said with a smile. "None of us knew who you were and we wanted to say hi!"

"Yeah, what's up with your eyes? Where did you come from?" The girl in the white dress asked. Shouto was about to answer, but Momo jumped up and started speaking before he could.

"Hi Karin, Beth and Emma! How are you doing?" The girl's eyes all turned to Momo, none of the apparently having noticed her before. When they did Shouto could almost see the second their excitement died.

"Oh…Hi Momo…" If Momo noticed their drop in excitement, she didn't say anything. "Do you know the new kid?"

"He's helping me build a sandcastle!"

"Poor him," One girl scoffed. "Don't have anyone else to play with?" Shouto had a feeling he wasn't supposed to say that was true.

"Did you three do the homework last night?" Momo asked, apparently not having heard their comment. "It was really hard, but I think I did it right!" Without waiting she rushed over to her bag to pull out a small sheet of paper. As she did the three girls all got a knowing look in their eyes.

"Oh great, its miss know-it-all," the tall one whispered to her friends, making them both either giggle or roll their eyes. Shouto raised an eyebrow at them but doesn't comment when Yaoyorozu smiles brightly as she returned.

After handing the paper to the blue-haired girl she went on rambling about her assignment. "I got really confused about question three but after I looked at the textbook it was easy to figure out! If you three need some help with your assignment I'd be happy to help you,"

"It's wrong."

"Eh?"

The girl's all looked over the paper. They each gave each other that Shouto didn't miss, but Momo seemed to. The girl held the paper back out to Momo with a small smirk on her face. "All the questions are wrong. You should do it all again." Shouto watched as the bright smile on the girls' face slowly died away. She couldn't even take the paper as she looked so shocked.

"A-are you sure? B-but…" The girl frowned.

"I told you its wrong. What, do you think you can never be wrong?" When Momo didn't take the paper she threw it to the side, making it land in the sandbox at Shouto's feet. "Maybe you're just not as smart as you like to tell everyone." Momo didn't say anything, looking horrified at the idea that she made so many mistakes on her homework. Out of curiosity, Shouto picked up the paper at his feet and started reading over the questions. "I wouldn't turn that thing in, you'll just get a failing grade," The girl continued to say, though Shouto was no longer paying attention. "Good luck miss know-it-all!" The three girls laughed before walking away back to the playground. Momo watched them go before turning back to Shouto. He was startled when he saw she was on the brink of tears.

"O-oh," Momo ran a nervous hand through her hair as her panic started to build. "D-did I really get it all wrong? B-but I was so sure I did it all right! I even checked it all over twice! I'm going to have to do it all before recess is over…What did I do wrong…five times four has to equal twenty, right? B-because there is four fives…"

"You did it right."

"Huh?"

She stopped and turned back to Shouto. He held out her paper to her and she took it gingerly. "You did all the questions right. Even the bonus question." She blinked, the tears that had started to build in her panic either melting away or turning to tears of relief. He remembered his brother saying girls cried about small things when they were little. He guessed it wasn't wrong.

"I-I did? R-really?" He nodded, his confidence impossible for her to argue with. "I…I did! T-That's great, Thank you Todoroki-san!" her bright smile was back when she took the paper back and put it in her bag. "That's such a relief I was so worried! Eh," She paused as a thought occurred to her. "I wonder why they said I got the questions wrong."

"They lied."

"Eh?" Yaoyorozu immediately got flustered and started waving her hands around. "No-no Todoroki-san! You can't say that about people! I'm sure they just didn't know!" _Does this girl honestly believe everyone is so good-natured?_ Shouto wondered as the girl thought to herself. "Do you think I should go over and tell them? If they got the questions wrong, they'll get in trouble. I can go help them…"

"I don't think they want your help," Shouto told her bluntly.

She tilted her head to the side. "Really? Why wouldn't they want to do the work right?" He had a feeling explaining to her that the girls were trying to be mean was a lost cause. She didn't seem to want to have bad thoughts about anyone.

Shouto decided not to argue with her. Instead he tilted his head to the side, and Momo got the message. "Oh well. Let's keep working on the castle. Recess will end soon!" She rushed over to the sand and started working on her masterpiece again. When Shouto didn't follow she looked up at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"…You're really book smart."

Instantly Momo blushed a bright pink. "R-Really? Thank you," she tried to say, but Shouto continued speaking as if she hadn't said anything.

"And you have an amazing quirk. If you trained it you would be able to fight very well. Those two things together, if you could get right of your naïve beliefs about everyone being good-natured, would make you very powerful."

"Naïve beliefs?" She frowned, but again Shouto ignored her.

"You could be a really strong hero." Momo brightened again happily.

"Thank you-"

"So why don't you believe you are strong?"

Yaoyorozu stopped. One hand stilled above the pot she was patting down while the other froze mid-dig in the sand. Shouto hesitated, not expecting her reaction. He'd expected some kind of reasoning, a logical explanation. Something like she had problems with thinking on her feet or that she couldn't handle pressure. But instead, after the pause, her answer was very unsatisfactory for such an intelligent girl.

"I…I dunno."

From what he had gathered of the girl so far, he could tell; there were few times she could ever say she did not know.

She sighed, gathering Shouto's attention once again. "Mama says I need to have more confidence in myself. But whenever I mess up I just get so worried! And then," whatever explanation she was going to give him was lost to the wind when she turned to face him. At first she opened her mouth to continue, but then she caught sight of something odd. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide what it was that she saw. Before Shouto could ask, the girl gasped. "Todoroki-san!"

"What?"

"I thought you just had a bruise! But that's a burn mark! You're injured!" Ah. She finally noticed the scaring.

 _Well, her medical knowledge could use some real life application,_ Shouto realized. While she may have known big words some kids her age didn't, he doubted she applied them in real life as much as she understood in the books. Shouto sighed and turned away, mentally preparing himself for the rush of questions. _How did that happen? Does it hurt? How long have you been burned?_ He truly didn't have much of a problem with the scar. It was the memories that came with it that was a sore subject. He would always have to find a way to work around their questions, avoid getting to the true answer…

He stopped meditating on this when he felt cloth cover part of his head. He blinked. Slowly, he glanced back at Momo.

Momo had gotten up, pulled a roll of bandages out of her arm with her quirk, and started wrapping it around the side of his head.

To wrap his injury.

…His already healed injury.

Shouto found himself sitting there, slightly swaying as Momo wrapped bandages around one side of his head while humming to herself, wondering how on earth he'd gotten into that situation. He was told to play in a sandbox and somehow he got roped into a young girl fixing injuries that had already healed. "…Yaoyorozu…"

"Sh! You're injured! I need to treat the wound!"

"Yaoyorozu, they are just scars right now,"

"Stop moving or the bandaging won't stick!"

At this point Shouto was at such a loss for words that he just snapped his mouth shut and sat there, waiting for her to finish. She hummed a soft little tune to herself while she wrapped the side of his face in bandages. Later he realized that he should have been grateful that she was able to make bandages that didn't fall apart the way the doll had. "I can't just not help someone who needs help! That's not what a hero should do!" What a hero should do? That was never the definition for a hero in his house. A hero was someone who was strong. Someone who could beat their enemies. It had nothing to do with lives being saved.

"I'm going to be a hero that helps people!"

So that was the ideology of others? To be a hero that helps instead of a hero that is strong? He wondered how many heroes really believed that, or just said they did in order to get stronger. The fact that anyone really believed that was…

Almost hopeful…

A hero that helps people…Shouto did not want to be a hero like his father. So perhaps that was the kind of hero he could be.

"That's why, when I'm older, I'm gonna go to UA," The girl explained, some pride in her words. "That's the best school for heroes, and I'm going to be a great hero!"

Shouto slipped out of his reverie and turned to the girl in surprise. "…You want to go to UA?" She paused her bandaging to focus on him once again.

"Yeah! I mean, most of my family members work in businesses or are lawyers, but I want to be the best hero I can be, so I need to go to UA! That's where they have the best training, the biggest libraries, the most amount of public respect and opportunities…" Shouto had the feeling that if he let her, the girl would have gone on to sing UA's praises until the sun had set on the world and time itself ended.

Perhaps letting that happen wasn't the best idea. "I know the school. I'm supposed to go there." In the last few days, UA had been a dangerous word in his house. Since Shouto's father wanted him to go there, since it was another step along his father's 'life plan' for him, Shouto hated even the idea of it. He'd argued and fought back and tried to consider every other kind of school he could think of.

But when he mentioned the idea of going to the girl, all he got instead was a big smile. "You are?" Shouto had no idea how he had made that girl so happy. He wasn't even sure why he cared that she was so happy.

All he remembered was that when she looked overjoyed like that, his own troubles seemed like a distant thing.

"Shouto?" Both children turned to find Shouto's sister had reappeared. Fuyumi blinked down at her little brother. She'd expected to find him maybe digging a hole or drawing pictures in the sand. Instead she found him sitting with a strange girl covered in sand and with half of his face bandaged. And the bandages were tied together in a little bow. "Did you make a friend?"

Friend? He wasn't sure if he'd go that far- "Yeah, my name is Momo Yaorozoru!" Never mind, he made a friend.

"Ah, well it's very nice to meet you," Fuyumi shook the younger girl's hand politely. Turning back to her brother however she said, "I actually just finished getting the clothes. Are you…ready to go?"

"Mm. Yes." Shouto nodded and got to his feet. Shouto wasn't sure why Fuyumi hesitated and glanced at the girl. Was he supposed to offer for her to come along?

Luckily the girl came up with another solution. "Wait, wait! One moment!" Before the two could say anything the girl rushed back to her bag and went rustling through it. Both confused, they watched as the girl pulled out a black pen and snatched the wooden doll she'd dropped earlier off the ground. Running back to them she stopped in front of Shouto and started drawing on the doll. Fuyumi almost giggled when the girl stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tried to draw on the wooden piece. When she was done she held out the doll to Shouto with a big smile. "Here!"

Confused, Shouto took it from her and took a look. On the top there was only a poorly drawn face. With one eye missing no less. "I drew in one eye for our parting so that when we see each other again, we'll have to fill in the other one. Now we both have to go to UA!" Shouto stared at the girl. Was she trying to tie their fates to a small, wooden doll with a missing eye? If that was how she planned on getting in, perhaps he really wouldn't see her in UA.

Instead of saying this all he said was, "But the doll looks bad."

Both girls blanched. _Shouto…This is why you'll never get a girlfriend…_ Fuyumi covered her mouth, both to stop herself from saying that out loud and from laughing.

Momo deflated sadly. "Oh…Well, it's not the best…" Just as quick as she was down she brought herself back up. "But when I'm stronger, I'll be able to make dolls that are really cool! You'll see them when we go to class together! For now, you should keep that doll as a promise for the future!" A promise? Shouto glanced down at the small, weak looking doll in his hands. Was something so…insignificant really supposed to be a promise for the future?

"Ah, and I almost forgot!" Before Shouto could do anything the girl grabbed his cheeks, leaned forward and kissed his bandaged eye. She pulled away and gave a big smile. "There! Now it will feel better!" she hesitated and started mumbling, "though I've never read a page that says kisses are good in any medicine book, but whenever Mama kisses me when I'm hurt, I feel much better!" Turning back to Shouto she asked, "So did it help at all?"

Shouto's face had turned bright, bright red. He hesitated, unable to find the words to say anything. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say anyway. "Uh…Um…"

That time Fuyumi had to hold back a laugh while she patted her brother on the shoulder. "I think that helped him very much, thank you."

Momo smiled happily. "That's great! I'll see you at UA then!" With a wave she rushed off back to finish her sandbox. Shouto watched her go, raising one hand up to place on the spot she had kissed.

"Well," Fuyumi smiled down at her brother. "It looks like you had fun." Shouto just blushed once again.

* * *

Yaoyorozu was colouring out the design for hero costume while waiting for the final bell of the day to ring. Around her her classmates either drew their own pictures or were staring at the clock waiting for the bell to ring so they could go home. Momo smiled as she added a red shirt to the top, thinking red looked like a cool colour.

There was a flick and Momo flinched when she felt something hit the side of her head. Glancing down she saw a crayon had been thrown at her, and she glanced back to see what had happened. The three girls from before were all giggling to themselves while sending Momo dirty glances. Unsure what else to do, Momo smiled and waved back. One of her friends next to her hissed at her reaction. "Yaoyorozu-san, don't wave back to them. They are being mean!"

"Why?"

Before she could answer the teacher came over to the desk of the three girls. "Karen, Bethany and Emma, here is your homework back from today." After handing it back to them she whispered low so the others couldn't hear. "Tomorrow I'd like you three to stay in for recess. You all need extra help with your multiplication." The three girls all looked flabbergasted as the teacher moved on to the rest. When she reached Momo before giving it to her she gave her a smile. "Good job Yaoyorozu. You seem to grasp this very well."

Feeling hopeful, Momo took back the assignment that she had been criticised on earlier that day. Flipping over the paper she brightened instantly when a big fat A+ was written on the front. _He had been right!_ Momo thought back to the boy who said her answers were correct. _I knew it!_ She hugged the paper to her chest, now even more excited to be seeing her new friend again someday in UA.

* * *

When Shouto and Fuyumi returned, their father was waiting for them at the door. "Fuyumi. I'm assuming you got all you needed?"

Fuyumi nodded earnestly. "Yes father, everything went well."

Endeavor nodded before turning to his son. Shouto would not look up at the man. He hadn't been looking up at his father lately unless it was to shout at him. Endeavor frowned at his son's reaction, but decided it was just a faze that would wash away in time. "Shouto, go back to reading your books. You need to make up for what you missed today." Fuyumi hesitated, glancing at her brother. She wanted to tell her father not to make him work when he just got back, but couldn't say anything. "If you are going to get into UA in the future you have to be the best you can be."

"Fine." Fuyumi turned back to Shouto, startled. Whenever her father brought up UA in Shouto's presences, Shouto would fight the idea and insist he would never go to the school his father wanted him to. She stared at Shouto, expecting answers, but got none. Instead he did not say a word as he gathered the bag his sister had gotten for him and walked past his father. Both sister and father watched as he walked, completely silent with ever step.

It wasn't until he was gone that Endeavor turned back to his daughter. "…Why was his face bandaged?"

"Ah…"

Once in his room, Shouto placed the bag on his bed and started rustling the items around. He hated leaving anything out of place, even if they were clothes that may or may not fit him.

As he did, he found the little doll that the girl had given him. He paused, taking in the sight of the badly drawn smile and the one eye missing. He was not a superstitious person. He didn't believe that some piece of wood that had popped out of his body could possibly help him get into UA, or guarantee that he would meet the girl once again. He should probably just throw it out.

Yet…

Shouto didn't know what he was doing as he did it. He didn't know why he pulled the doll out of the bag. He didn't know why he brushed off any residual sand before turning back to his desk. He didn't know why he placed the doll on a top shelf he could barely reached, then turned so that the smile could face him. He didn't know why when he looked at the doll, it was like the dark cloud that had formed over his life seemed to show a silver lining.

 _…I guess I'm going to UA then,_ he thought to himself. Then, without argument, he started studying.


End file.
